It's Thursday

It's Thursday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is November 6th, the 309th day of 2014. There are 56 days left in the year.

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Howe improving in recovery from stroke, son says.

Penguins' Fleury signs four-year contract extension.

Visit the official league website, http://www.nhl.com.

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Today's Birthdays: Sally Field is 68. Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Dead Poets Society) is 44. Thandie Newton is 42. Emma Stone (Amazing Spider-Man series, Birdman) is 26.

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Tampa, FL. -- The first time Nikita Kucherov touched the puck in the National Hockey League, he scored.

Read the rest here.

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Recently I told you about a 24,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that you can actually own. But if that isn't challenging enough for you, there's also a 32,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. This puzzle is a whopping seventeen-foot-long and weighs 42 pounds. Here's the link.

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U.S. National Under-18 Team Edges Sweden, 4-3, at 2014 Four Nations Tournament Bracco Notches Game-Winning Goal in Pre-Tournament Game KOVLAND, Sweden - Jeremy Bracco (Freeport, N.Y.) notched the game-winning goal with four seconds remaining to give the U.S. National Under-18 Team a 4-3 victory over Sweden here today at Anashallen Arena. The pre-tournament contest precedes the 2014 Under-18 Four Nations Tournament. Sweden struck first at 8:39 of the opening frame, scoring a shorthanded goal. Team USA managed 13 shots on net in the period, but could not solve Swedish netminder Daniel Marmenlind and trailed by one tally heading into the first intermission. A five-on-three opportunity for Sweden led to their second goal at 5:48 of the second stanza. Just over two minutes later, Matthew Tkachuk (St. Louis, Mo.) cut the U.S. deficit in half. Christian Fischer (Wayne, Ill.) and Grant Gabriele (Brighton, Mich.) earned assists on the play. Colin White (Hanover, Mass.) then knotted the game, 2-2, on the power play, but 1:13 later Sweden regained its one-goal advantage. Special teams again proved pivotal as Luke Kunin's (Chesterfield, Mo.) power-play marker tied the contest once more. Casey Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) recorded the lone assist. The only goal of the third period came off the stick of Bracco to send the U.S. away victorious, 4-3. Luke Opilka (St. Louis, Mo.) made the start for Team USA and made 32 saves in the win. Marmenlind and Adam Werner split time in net for Sweden, combining to stop 35 shots in the loss. The U.S. National Under-18 Team opens tournament play versus Finland on Friday (Nov. 7) in Sundsvall, Sweden. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST at Energi Arena. The game will be streamed live here on a pay-per-view basis. Notes: Team USA outshot Sweden, 39-35 ... The U.S. went 2-7 on the power play while Sweden went 1-8 ... Follow @USANTDP and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for tournament updates and join the conversation on social media by using #4NationsU18 ... The roster is made up entirely of members of the 2014-15 U.S. National Under-18 Team, part of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program based in Ann Arbor, Michigan ... The U.S. squad will compete against teams from Finland, Sweden and Switzerland in the round-robin tournament ... The United States has won six of the last seven Under-18 Four Nations Tournaments, including the 2012 event, which was played at the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Ice Cube, home of the NTDP ... Don Granato (Downers Grove, Ill.) leads the U.S. National Under-18 Team for the second time in the event, having previously coached the U.S. to a first-place finish in 2012. Joining Granato on the bench will be assistant coach Nick Fohr (Grand Forks, N.D.). Team USA Schedule - 2014 Under-18 Four Nations TournamentNov. 5-9 | Sundsvall, Sweden Date Opponent Location Time (Local/EST) Fri., Nov. 7 Finland Energi Arena 3:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Sat., Nov. 8 Switzerland Energi Arena 2:00 p.m. / 8:00 a.m. Sun., Nov. 9 Sweden Energi Arena 2:30 p.m. / 8:30 a.m.

Four Nations: USA Falls, 3-2, to Rival Canada KAMLOOPS, B.C. — The U.S. Women’s National Team had a 32-21 shots-on-goal advantage, but dropped a 3-2 decision tonight against rival Canada in the second game of the 2014 Four Nations Cup for both teams. Canada scored goals 46 seconds apart in the last five minutes of the game to erase a 2-1 U.S. advantage and claim the victory. For complete recap and boxscore, please click here. Team USA faces Sweden Friday (Nov. 7) in its final preliminary round game. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. ET and the game can be seen live on FASTHockey.com ************************************************ On this date in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the sixteenth president of the United States. ************************************************

Regina, SK. -- The Saskatchewan Roughrider nominees for the CFL awards were announced today.

Read the rest here.

After a week 19 bye for the 9-8 Riders comes a week 20 home game against the 12-5 Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday, November 8th, which wraps up the regular season schedule. Game time at Regina's Mosaic Stadium is 7:00pm EST. Catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on 620 CKRM, the Rider Radio Network and 620ckrm.com. The game can be seen in Canada on TSN and in the U.S. on ESPN3.com. Calgary next hosts Winnipeg on Saturday, November 1st.

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Today is Men Make Dinner Day.

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Cauz: Your survival guide to the 2014 Grey Cup Playoffs.

Irving: The forensic audit on Bombers season has begun.

Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca.

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COMING UP - Veteran’s Day: November 11. Great American Smokeout: November 20. Thanksgiving: November 27.

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Tampa, FL. -- Tampa Bay may have a healthy Josh McCown ready to step back in at quarterback, but new ailments have put a question mark on several other key starters, including CB Alterraun Verner.

Read the rest here.

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Forbes has once again named Vladimir Putin as the World’s Most Powerful Person. [My money was on that woman who was able to get George Clooney married.]

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Corvallis, OR. -- Each Tuesday during the 2014 college football season, Pac-12 Networks feature a USA Football Fundamental Play of the Week from the previous weekend’s Pac-12 slate of games.

Read the rest here.

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Baskin Robbins has announced that its flavor of the month will be “First Class Camouflage” in honor of Veterans Day to pay tribute to the troops. It's a combination of chocolate, salty caramel, and cake-flavored ice cream.

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Jimmy loves Flipper.

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as still waiting for an important phone call, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History:

1948 - The Presley family began their move to Memphis. 

1963 - On location shooting for the Elvis Presley movie "Kissin' Cousins" ended. 

1960 - Elvis Presley flew to California to begin working on pre-production for the film "Wild In The Country." The movie premiered in Memphis on June 15, 1961. 

1971 - Elvis Presley's single "It's Only Love" hit #51 in the U.S. 

1990 - The RIAA certified 150,000 sales of the Elvis Presley videos "Great Performances Volume 1 - Center Stage" and "Great Performances Volume 2 - Man And Music." 

2001 - The album "The Country Side of Elvis" was released.

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German police said a burglar alarm at a hardware store early Wednesday was triggered by a wild boar that broke in by ramming the glass doors. The store’s manager arrived and opened the front doors allowing the boar to escape.

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Today in Beatles History:

1966 - Beatles fans demonstrated outside Brian Epstein's house in England. They were demanding the the Beatles perform more live concerts. 

1969 - The John Lennon and Yoko Ono film "Rape - Part II" screened at the Mannheim Film Festival in Germany.

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Benedict Cumberbatch got engaged to Sophie Hunter. He’s an up-and-coming actor who’s had bit parts in a couple of TV shows and movies, she’s a 36-year-old actress and theater director.

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Today in Sports History:

1861 - The inventor of basketball, James Naismith, was born. 

1869 - The first official intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick, NJ. 

1958 - The American League announced that Kansas City would play a record 52 night games in 1959. 

1966 - Tim Brown (Philadelphia Eagles) ran back two kick-offs for touchdowns in the same game against the Dallas Cowboys. 

1969 - A tie for the Cy Young Award occurred for the first time. Detroit's Denny McLain and Baltimore's Mike Cuellar both won the award for best pitcher in the American League. 

1974 - Mike Marshall became the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. 

1982 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the National Football League (NFL) could not dictate the home town of a team. The case resulted from the Oakland Raiders wanting to move to Los Angeles. 

1989 - NFL Charities donated $1 million through the United Way to benefit the victims of the Bay Area earthquake. 

1995 - ESPN announced a five-year contract extension with Major League Baseball. The contract represented the first time that baseball's post season would be on cable. 

1995 - Art Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to move his team to Baltimore. 

1995 - It was announced that a contract had been signed, on October 27, that finalized the Cleveland Browns' move to Baltimore. 

1995 - Mark Messier scored his 500th NHL goal. 

1996 - Michael Jordan scored 50 points for the 29th time in his career. 

2002 - Emmitt Smith (Dallas Cowboys) dropped the puck at a game between the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks.  

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One year ago I told you about a school in Sweden that switched from traditional round meatballs to meat cubes. Cafeteria workers said constantly rolling thousands of meatballs by hand was both time-consuming and potentially injury-causing due to the strain it put on their wrists. Workers were given the go-ahead to cut the meat into small cubes instead of having to roll it into balls.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Calgary Flames 7:30pm EST

Friday --

USPHL Empire and Elite Hockey -- At USPHL Boston Showcase Times TBA

Saturday --

USPHL Empire and Elite Hockey -- At USPHL Boston Showcase Times TBA

Nascar Nationwide Series -- DAV 200 - Honoring America's Veterans at Phoenix International Raceway 2:00pm EST

College Football -- Oregon State Beavers vs Washington State Cougars 4:00pm EST

CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Edmonton Eskimos 7:00pm EST

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets 7:00pm EST

Sunday --

USPHL Empire and Elite Hockey -- At USPHL Boston Showcase Times TBA

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta Falcons 1:00pm EST

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway 3:00pm EST (Final race of Eliminator Round)

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Detroit Red Wings 6:00pm EST

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That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.